Music’s streaming in our lives and there’s no stopping it

“Music is a world within itself, It’s a language we all understand”, said the famous Stevie Wonder describing his life’s passion.

One couldn’t agree more. Music today is more than just entertainment – it has become an integral part of our social and cultural lives. Technology has changed not just the sound of music but also how we experience it. The music scene in India has evolved tremendously over the years and we are listening to more music than ever before.

To understand this changing musical landscape, Piplsay reached out to music enthusiasts across the country with a quick poll. Here’s a peek into what the 23000 responses revealed

Where’s my jam?

Streaming has completely changed the way we consume music, helping us discover new artists and listen to as much music as we want and when we want it. It’s no wonder, then, that Music apps and YouTube have become the top two destinations for people’s musical cravings. While smartphones have almost relegated music tv to the sidelines, apps are giving the radio a run for its money. Still, the good old radio remains popular with higher age groups who seek comfort in familiarity.

Music in India is still largely synonymous with Bollywood which makes more than 1000 movies a year. While Bollywood music accounts for over 90% share of the physical market, its streaming share dips down to about 60% giving room for other popular genres like International, Indian pop and regional music to make their presence felt.

Also, Indians today are spending over 21 hours a week jamming out their favorite tunes. That’s a minimum of 3 hours everyday

This can mostly be attributed to the fact that most people spend a chunk of their time every day on travel. Music invariably happens to be the best way to enjoy the long journey. Whether relaxing, doing chores or working out, Indians are spending a lot of time listening to music.

In fact, their passion for music can be gauged from the fact that half of the people surveyed said that they actively choose to listen to music when given an option as opposed to other activities

Though Indians dig their music, how much do they actually invest in it? Turns out Indians don’t like to pay much for their music

Most people, particularly youngsters prefer spending on music apps, a majority of which are free but offer unlimited downloads and access to their entire music library for a nominal subscription. Still, the conversion to paid subscription is dismally low compared to the huge number of downloads. As a result, many streaming services are now proactively promoting their paid versions to up their revenues.

Music concerts and festivals, on the other hand, seem to be a low priority despite their growing popularity and frequency. This is mostly because of the high costs involved in terms of ticket prices and sometimes travel. Additionally, a lot of Indians tend to attend these events more for the experience they offer and not so much the music, which makes their second such outing less probable.

Overall, the rising demand for music in India has put the music industry on an upward trajectory with digital streaming playing a pivotal role. It has also created more platforms and opportunities for upcoming independent artists and bands who offer a variety with their kind of tunes.

Music is something we will never tire off given our dependence on it. It will, therefore, be interesting to see how it evolves and continues to influence us over the coming years. Till then all we can do is plug in and enjoy the sound of music that is playing all around us.